Katie Zaback Email & Phone Number

Support local and national clients to enhance their impact through research, policy development, program evaluation, communication, and innovation. Research and Policy Development: Deliver high-impact research and policy reports for clients to support policy and strategy. Clients include Complete College America and Lumina Foundation, Colorado Succeeds, and The Mid-Western Higher Education Compact.Program Evaluation: Design and execute evaluation frameworks to enable data-informed program adjustments while reducing participant reporting burdens. Clients include Education Strategy Group, Strong Start to Finish, and Rigous Rage Institute.Educational Innovation: Support innovative projects at the local level to help create systems change. Clients include Emily Griffith Technical College and Colorado Mountain College (in partnership with Point B(e) Strategies). Learn more about my work at www.zabacksolutions.com

Denver, Colorado, Us

Denver, Colorado, Us

Responsible for strategic leadership and transformation, government affairs, policy development and implementation, coalition building, and leading the developing a teamStrategic Leadership: Led alignment on four policy priorities, driving a unified vision and three-year policy focus. Spearheaded a cross-team communications strategy to amplify policy goals.Policy Development and Implementation: Secured key legislative victories, including creating Colorado’s Longitudinal Data System, reforming transfer systems, and obtaining $70M+ in workforce program funding. Coordinated coalition efforts for seamless policy implementation.Coalition Building: Established a statewide intermediary and business coalition, guiding over a dozen diverse organizations to advance shared policy objectives and manage implementation strategies. Supported staff in helping seed a learner coalition. Team Oversight and Fundraising: Directed policy, postsecondary implementation, and advocacy personnel, including implementing EOS to improve focus and efficiency. Also, helped raise $1M+ in grant funding from five new funders to support priority initiatives.

Denver, Colorado, Us

Responsible for coordinating master plan execution, commission management, legislative oversight, policy development, research, and communications. Master Plan Execution: Built cross-functional partnerships to advance Colorado’s Higher Education Master Plan, elevating perspectives from all levels within the department and partner institutions.Commission Oversight: Organized Commission agendas, retreats, and work plans, shaping the strategic direction of Colorado’s higher education.Legislative Leadership: Led legislative efforts that secured a historic $108M funding increase, spearheading policy changes to enhance student success, including new reporting and remedial education reform.Data and Communications Strategy: Revamped legislative reporting to align with policy execution, collaborating with data analysts to support policy impact and communicate insights.

Indianapolis, Indiana, Us

Supported states across the country with data-driven strategy, national reports, policy and strategy support, also built and managed data collection efforts, including data governance. Data-Driven Strategy: Managed a $200K annual data budget, overseeing data collection across 30+ states to track college completion metrics and meet grant outcomes.National Reporting and Policy Influence: Co-authored influential reports and briefs addressing college completion issues, impacting state and national reform.Data Governance and Advisory: Established a data advisory committee, fostering data use for state-level reforms and long-range planning.Strategy Management: Led evidence-based strategies across states, guiding policy transformation in developmental education, advising, and math pathways.

Boulder, Colorado, Us

Helped support work on national projects, including policy development, data management, and member engagement. Project Leadership: Supported major initiatives including the multistate learning outcomes assessment and Common Education Data Standards development, enhancing data-driven decision-making.Policy Development: Played a key role in national policy conversations, co-developing a federal-state financial aid proposal that influenced campaign policies and continues to shape higher education funding models.Data Management: Led the Complete College America Data collection efforts, coordinating system development and data collection from 25+ states annually.Staff Development: Managed a research analyst, fostering growth in research, analysis, and presentation skills to enhance team impact.

Denver, Colorado, Us

Program Evaluation: Developed and managed program evaluations for government, education, and non-profit agencies in Colorado.Training: Facilitated training sessions and participated in community needs assessments.

Bloomington, Indiana, Us

System Improvement: Automated and documented CSEQ reporting system with new SPSS and Visual Basic Macros, reducing reporting time by 90%.Analysis: Extracted and analyzed BSSE and NSSE data to support local education analysis for improved student outcomes.

Mclean, Virginia, Us

Analysis: Provided analytical services to various lines of business, supporting the development, collection, and reporting of Key Performance Indicators.Reporting: Collected data for monthly outcomes reporting to ensure accurate and timely information for decision-making processes.

Denver, Co, Us

Assessment: Managed internal student and program assessments, leading to program improvement and institutional change.System Development: Facilitated data warehouse creation as a liaison between administration, users, and developers.Data Analysis and Planning: Utilized forecasting and quantitative analysis to produce enrollment models for budgeting and strategic planning.

Bachelor'S Degree, Economics And Political Science

Mpa, Public Policy Analysis

Masters Certificate, Database Design